Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Reality of Biblical Evidence

Questions
about the accuracy of the Bible never seem to go away.For example, recently, several folks on
Facebook have posted what they insist are proofs of the Biblical stories of
Noah’s Ark and of Sodom, a city described in the book of Genesis of being
destroyed by God.

In
both cases, the pictures of an Ark and the supposed ruins of Sodom were
included along with the claim that media has deliberately ignored the
discoveries.

Recently found coins

That
last statement can be dismissed easily.All anyone has to do is look on the internet to find multiple stories about
anything that has been uncovered by archaeologists, paleontologists,
anthropologists and other researchers. Even the discovery of some ancient gold
coins in the water off Israel garnered wide coverage as well as the grave of an
unknown woman next to that of Richard III in England. If an archaeologist
actually dug up Noah’s Ark, the news would be heralded as broadly as possible.

Of
course, it’s always easier to claim a conspiracy than to admit nothing actually
happened.

However,
for the sake of argument, let’s say that a wooden boat was found and that the
ruins really are of Sodom.Would that
prove the accuracy of the Bible?

No.As valid historians and archaeologists know
too well, the finding of a boat only proves that a human built a boat at some
time in history.The wood of the boat
can be dated.However, unless cargo was
left on board, what the boat carried can only be surmised.There’s nothing to indicate that a deity
ordered the boat built, that it carried animals or that anything else in the
biblical account is connected to this particular boat.

Sodom?

How
about the ruins at Sodom?Again, all
they show is that someone built some buildings.Stone is harder to date, but if any carbon is found attached, then the
structures can be dated.If not, their
design helps associate the structures with a particular culture and gives some
clues as to their date.

However,
there’s no “Welcome to Sodom” sign.Ancient cities often have been misidentified, and their assigned name is
usually the product of consensus among historians rather than clear,
identifiable fact.Still, even if this
is really Sodom, there’s nothing to indicate that any deity destroyed this
community following the mistreatment of a guest at a resident’s house, as the
Bible claims.

All
the ruins would prove is that a city named Sodom existed. Everything else is
conjecture, acceptable only to biblical literalists.In fact, they are so eager to find supporting
evidence for the faith that they’ll even manufacture it.The manipulated pictures of the so-called “ark”
are prime examples of that.

Their
desperate need for “proof” arises from various sources, including the swelling
tide of Americans moving away from traditional religions.More than 22 percent of all Americans at last
count indicate they do not identify with any faith.At the same time, use of religious facilities
for traditional ceremonies has declined precipitously.

As
a result, fundamentalists are on the wrong side of history.That would make anyone frantic.

Sagan

Religious
people are also inhibited by genetics, much as they hate that idea.We are all born with innate trust of
adults.We have to have that; otherwise,
we would not survive because humans take longer to reach maturity than any
other animal.Chimps, our closest
relative, need five to eight years.I
doubt few parents believe an 8-year-old boy is capable of living and thriving
on his own.

As
a result, we trust.The length of that
trust depends on the individual.Some
people begin to question religious fairy tales at a very early age.Some never do.

Besides,
it’s easier to embrace an illusion of heaven and a universal deity than to accept
reality.As the late famed astronomer Carl Sagan
noted: "Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a humdrum star in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people."

To him, however, "it is far better to grasp the universe as really it is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring."

Not everyone can make that
leap.Instead, they excitedly point at
anything and exaggerate its connection to a book they revere.Insisting that some ancient artifact somehow “proves”
writings written by people who lacked the wide knowledge we have today is to
doom oneself to self-imposed Dark Ages.

Dawkins

Noted English biologist and atheist Richard
Dawkins put it this way: “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade
the need to think and evaluate evidence.”He continued, “Religious
fanatics want people to switch off their own minds, ignore the evidence, and
blindly follow a holy book based upon private ‘revelation.’”

That
doesn’t mean we should ignore the Bible.“The Bible should be taught, but
emphatically not as reality. It is fiction, myth, poetry, anything but reality,”
Dawkins said.

The evidence of that surrounds
us.

Long-time
religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious
history.He also speaks at various
religious organizations throughout Florida.You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net.He is the author of the famed Unauthorized
Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel
Writers Get Their Information; Noel:
The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols;and Dummies Guide to Comparative
Religion.His books are available on Amazon.com,
Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.He can also be followed on Twitter.

You
can enroll in his on-line class, Comparative Religion for Dummies, at
http://www.udemy.com/comparative-religion-for-dummies/?promote=1

About Me

During his career, Bill has been a newspaper reporter, magazine writer/editor, advertising copywriter and writer/editor of NASCAR programs, among other jobs. He has won three international awards for stories and programs while working for International Speedway Corp. and was named 2000 Florida Feature Writer of the Year.
He has published four books to date and his writing has appeared in hundreds of local, regional, state and national publications.